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My mother has been visiting once per week to “help” me in my efforts to juggle my business with my new role as a mother. My sarcasm is due to the fact that she and I both know these visits are actually about being able to spend time with my son, Max – not about making my life easier. The truth of the matter is that my perpetual to-do list is always at least 20% longer after one of my mother’s visits. So if she assists me in knocking two things off my list but adds five onto it, is that helping?

There are a lot of ways in which my mom actually does make my life easier: she brings new clothes for Max to replace those he outgrew, she cleans the dirty dishes piled in the sink, and she attends to Max so I can work. In return for her kindness, I am subjected to an endless list of recommendations, suggestions, and improvements that should be made, all of which can be supported by articles she clipped from Good Housekeeping magazine or the Star-Ledger. Some of these contributions are useful and some are, in fact, critical. The issue is the magnitude; there is only so much a person can digest in terms of things he or she “should” be doing at a given moment.

If I get frustrated with my mother, then I feel guilty and unappreciative because I know she means well and she cares. On the other hand, sometimes she crosses the line into the territory of being controlling. Over the last nine months, she and I have discussed – okay, argued about – how to balance her need to tell me all of these things with my need to be left alone. I’m happy to report that we finally seem to have a process, a coping mechanism if you will, that seems to work.

Every time my mother gives me a suggestion or direction that I don’t have the energy or desire to deal with, I simply restate it with the words “…your face.” For example, when she grabs me between client meetings to tell me that I should clean the baseboard heaters, my response is “Maybe you should clean your face.” Or when she asks me if we have debt, I simply ask “I don’t know, does your face have debt?” Depending on how stressed or irritated I am at the moment when my mother gives me the unsolicited advice, I might choose to replace the word “face” with the word “butt,” as in “Maybe you should clean your butt” or “Does your butt have debt?”

It’s completely immature, but it makes me snicker (yes, I laugh at my own jokes) and it confuses her long enough for me to escape back into my office. I am not sure how many more times I’ll be able to get away with this approach for deflecting my mom’s endless suggestions, but I will definitely milk it for all it’s worth.

The following shall forever be referred to as “The Deepak Chopra Incident”.

As I wrote about in “My Backstory,” I went through a very difficult personal time and got through it by turning inward. I spent a lot of time by myself, reading and reflecting and generally trying to make sense of how I ended up in the situation in which I found myself. Even though I was in a lot of pain, it was a special time for me because it changed my life profoundly and for the better.

There were quite a few books that really helped me during the journey from personal crisis to rebirth, and the one that was especially meaningful to me was The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. In this book, Deepak Chopra presented me with a new way of understanding the universe and my perception of it, which caused me to reevaluate my life in every way and make some positive, necessary changes.

So, three years later, when I saw that Deepak Chopra would be doing a lecture and book signing through the Open Center in New York City, I was thrilled and excited to attend. I signed up six months in advance when I first saw the promotions for the event. Having recommended the book or even given it as a gift to many people, I also reached out to others who I thought would like to attend. Through my suggestion, more than ten people registered for the event, including my now-husband and my parents.

A few days before the Big Night, I made a point of taking time to think about what I would say to Deepak Chopra if I had an opportunity. So many things to talk with him about! Knowing I would have a minute or two at the most, I needed to cull down the volume of thoughts and topics into something short that would impress upon him exactly how much his book, and he as a person, impacted me. Should I tell him how many people to whom I had given his book? Should I let him know that reading his book inspired me to move on from a marriage and abandon a career track, completely revamping my life in one fell swoop? Should I explain that his words got me on a path to rediscover my personal creativity as a form of spirituality? That I look at the world so differently now and I am a better person as a result? Should I let him know he inspired me to write a book on leadership, and plant the seed so that he might write the introduction for it when it is finally completed? Or, even better, maybe I could ask him to collaborate with me on it? So many things!

Clearly, I had a challenge ahead of me. There was no way I would be able to get an audience with Deepak Chopra. In fact, as my father pointed out, it is possible that the books would have been signed in advance and handed out; after all, he must be a busy man and signing all of those books would take hours. That was the worst case. The best case was that I might be able to say hello to him while he signed my book. Nonetheless, I hoped for the best and set about figuring out what to say to this man with whom I had developed an imaginary relationship in my head.

I utilized my sales training and developed an “elevator pitch.” An elevator pitch is what you would say if you happened to run into a potential customer in an elevator and had only a few seconds to close a sale. I honed my message carefully, trying to walk the balance between letting Deepak Chopra know how much he influenced me and sounding like a complete stalker. After mulling it over for a few days, I felt I had developed the perfect thing to say and, as I sat on the train on my way to New York, I jotted the final version down in my journal. Feeling satisfied and giddy with anticipation, I put my pen down, sat back and relaxed, enjoying the rest of the train ride with my friend.

When we got to New York City, we met our friends and family for dinner first. I tried to exchange pleasantries but I couldn’t focus. I wanted to get to the venue and get a good seat. I was trying to relax and enjoy the meal, but I was getting stressed that we would end up too far in the back to see Deepak Chopra. Dinner finally ended and we headed over. We easily got in line and found seats near the front – enough for our entire group – and I started to feel blessed that things were falling into place. This would be a very good night. I couldn’t stop smiling.

This is probably a logical place to stop and make a brief mention of my relationship with my mother. It’s complicated. In a nutshell, my mom and I are very different personalities and in some ways polar opposites: I am a tomboy and she is a girly-girl, I am a risk-taker and she likes for play it safe, I like my independence and she craves closeness, I spend Sundays watching football and she spends Sundays shopping. We love each other, and we just have two very different ways of approaching things in life.

Back to the Big Night. Deepak Chopra comes out to speak about his book, The Third Jesus (which is excellent, by the way). His talk is amazing and I hang on every word. He is funny, insightful, thought-provoking and inspirational. He talks for longer than any of us expect and we all enjoy it thoroughly. When he is finished, an announcement is made that Dr. Chopra will be signing books! I look at my father, wide-eyed. He is signing the books! That means I can meet him!

I am in line to get my book signed, and my heart is pounding. Everyone else in our group is making conversation while we wait, but I can’t participate because I am rehearsing what I had planned to say to him. I watch the people who are ahead of me, and notice how much time they have with Deepak Chopra before they need to move on. It doesn’t seem like they are being rushed, and I appreciate how patient he is and how willing to take his time with each person. I am so looking forward to having my moment with Deepak Chopra that I can barely contain myself.

Only a few people in front of me. My heart quickens its pace. Now only two people. I am taking deep breaths and trying to stay calm, because I don’t want to miss my opportunity to make an impression on him. One person ahead of me, and I can tell they are finishing up. My turn! It’s go time!

As I walk up, I am very focused, yet vaguely aware that my mother is right at my heels. That’s alright, I think, she can hear what I have to say. I move in front of the table where Deepak Chopra sits. As he looks up at me, I hand him The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success and say:

“I was hoping you would sign this book for me as well. I just have to tell you that this book had a tremendous impact on me. It caused me to shift my perception in such a profound way that I ended up changing virtually every aspect of my life.”

He looked up at me and, before he could say a word, my mother said:

“And my book club loved it!”

I was shocked and appalled. This book gave me the wisdom and strength to leave a toxic marriage! This book caused me to abandon a high-powered job for a more fulfilling career! This book allowed me to manifest a completely new life for myself! Your book club loved it?!? Are you kidding me?!? No offense, but there is really no comparison here!

Then, before Deepak Chopra could say a word, I said:

“Mom, it’s my turn!”

As soon as the words were out of my mouth I realized what I had done. In one second, I went from being who I wanted to be – a woman on the path to enlightenment – and ended up back at square one – a girl arguing with her mother. Great…just great.

Everything after that was a blur. I don’t remember what Deepak Chopra said to me. I do remember that he seemed mildly amused. I remember feeling totally deflated that, while I had made an impression, it was not quite the impression I had intended to make.

So I ask you: Am I enlightened?

Or maybe a better question is: Is it possible to be enlightened while you are in the same room as your parents?